Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e.V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund[boˈʁʊsi̯aː ˈdɔʁtmʊnt],[2]BVB, or simply Dortmund, is a German sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia (Borussia is the Latin equivalent of Prussia). The football team is part of a large membership-based sports club with more than 145,000 members,[3] making BVB the second largest sports club by membership in Germany. Dortmund plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. Dortmund is one of the most successful clubs in German football history.[4][5]

Since 1974, Dortmund have played their home games at Westfalenstadion, named after its home region of Westphalia. The stadium is the largest in Germany and Dortmund has the highest average attendance of any association football club in the world.[6] Borussia Dortmund's colours are black and yellow, giving the club its nickname die Schwarzgelben.[7][8] Dortmund holds a long-standing rivalry with Ruhr neighbours Schalke 04, known as the Revierderby. In terms of Deloitte's annual Football Money League, Dortmund is the second biggest sports club in Germany and the 11th biggest football team in the world.[9]

History

Foundation and early years

Borussia Dortmund in 1913

The club was founded on 19 December 1909 by a group of young men unhappy with church-sponsored Trinity Youth, where they played football under the stern and unsympathetic eye of the local parish priest. Father Dewald was blocked at the door when he tried to break up the organizing meeting being held in a room of the local pub, Zum Wildschütz. The founders were Franz and Paul Braun, Henry Cleve, Hans Debest, Paul Dziendzielle, Franz, Julius and Wilhelm Jacobi, Hans Kahn, Gustav Müller, Franz Risse, Fritz Schulte, Hans Siebold, August Tönnesmann, Heinrich and Robert Unger, Fritz Weber, Franz Wendt and Benno Elkan. The name Borussia is Latin for Prussia but was taken from Borussia beer from the nearby Borussia brewery in Dortmund.[10] The team began playing in blue and white striped shirts with a red sash, and black shorts. In 1913, they donned the black and yellow stripes so familiar today.

Over the next decades the club enjoyed only modest success playing in local leagues. They had a brush with bankruptcy in 1929 when an attempt to boost the club's fortunes by signing some paid professional footballers failed miserably and left the team deep in debt. They survived only through the generosity of a local supporter who covered the team's shortfall out of his own pocket.

The 1930s saw the rise of the Third Reich, which restructured sports and football organizations throughout the nation to suit the regime's goals. Borussia's president was replaced when he refused to join the Nazi Party, and a couple of members who surreptitiously used the club's offices to produce anti-Nazi pamphlets were executed in the last days of the war. The club did have greater success in the newly established Gauliga Westfalen, but would have to wait until after World War II to make a breakthrough. It was during this time that Borussia developed its intense rivalry with Schalke 04 of suburban Gelsenkirchen, the most successful side of the era (see Revierderby). Like every other organisation in Germany, Borussia was dissolved by the Allied occupation authorities after the war in an attempt to distance the country's institutions from its so-recent Nazi past. There was a short-lived attempt to merge the club with two others– Werksportgemeinschaft Hoesch and Freier Sportverein 98– as Sportgemeinschaft Borussia von 1898, but it was as Ballspiel-Verein Borussia (BVB) that they made their first appearance in the national league final in 1949, where they lost 2–3 to VfR Mannheim.

Entry to the Bundesliga

In 1962, the DFB met in Dortmund and voted to finally establish a professional football league in Germany, to begin play in August 1963 as the Bundesliga. Borussia Dortmund earned its place among the first sixteen clubs to play in the new league by winning the last pre-Bundesliga national championship. Runners-up 1. FC Köln also earned an automatic berth. It was Dortmund's Friedhelm Konietzka who scored the first-ever Bundesliga goal barely a minute into the match, which they would eventually lose 2–3 to Werder Bremen.

In 1965, Dortmund captured its first DFB-Pokal. In 1966, Dortmund won the European Cup Winners' Cup 2–1 against Liverpool in extra time, with the goals coming from Sigfried Held and Reinhard Libuda. In the same year, however, the team surrendered a commanding position atop the Bundesliga by losing four of their last five league games and finishing second, three points behind champions 1860 München. Ironically, much of 1860 München's success came on the strength of the play of Konietzka, recently transferred from Dortmund.

The 1970s were characterized by financial problems, relegation from the Bundesliga in 1972, and the opening of the Westfalenstadion, named after its home region Westphalia in 1974. The club earned its return to Bundesliga in 1976.

Dortmund continued to suffer from financial problems through the 1980s. BVB narrowly avoided being relegated again in 1986 by winning a third decisive playoff game against Fortuna Köln after finishing the regular season in 16th place.

Dortmund did not enjoy any significant success again until a 4–1 DFB-Pokal win in 1989 against Werder Bremen. It was Horst Köppel's first trophy as a manager. Dortmund then won the 1989 DFL-Supercup 4–3 against rivals Bayern Munich.

Golden age– the 1990s

In 1992, Hitzfeld led Borussia Dortmund to a second-place finish in the Bundesliga and would have won the title had VfB Stuttgart not won their last game to become champions instead.

Along with a fourth-place finish in the Bundesliga, Dortmund made it to the 1993 UEFA Cupfinal, which they lost 6–1 on aggregate to Juventus. In spite of this result, Borussia walked away with DM25million under the prize money pool system in place at the time for German sides participating in the Cup. Cash flush, Dortmund was able to sign players who later brought them numerous honours in the 1990s.

Dortmund then went on to beat Brazilian club Cruzeiro 2–0 in the 1997 Intercontinental Cup Final to become world club champions.[14] Borussia Dortmund were the second German club to win the Intercontinental Cup, after Bayern Munich in 1976.[15]

21st century and Borussia "goes public"

Borussia Dortmund in 2007

At the turn of the millennium, Borussia Dortmund became the first—and so far the only—publicly traded club on the German stock market.

In 2002, Borussia Dortmund won their third Bundesliga title. Dortmund had a remarkable run at the end of the season to overtake Bayer Leverkusen, securing the title on the final day. Manager Matthias Sammer became the first person in Borussia Dortmund history to win the Bundesliga as both a player and manager.[16] In the same season, Borussia lost the final of the 2001–02 UEFA Cup to Dutch side Feyenoord.

Dortmund's fortunes then steadily declined for a number of years. Poor financial management led to a heavy debt load and the sale of their Westfalenstadion grounds. The situation was compounded by failure to advance in the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League, when the team was eliminated on penalties in the qualifying rounds by Club Brugge. In 2003, Bayern Munich loaned €2million to Dortmund for several months to pay their payroll. Borussia was again driven to the brink of bankruptcy in 2005, the original €11 value of its shares having plummeted by over 80% on the Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse (Frankfurt Stock Exchange). The response to the crisis included a 20% pay cut for all players.[17]

In 2006, in order to reduce debt, the Westfalenstadion was renamed "Signal Iduna Park" after a local insurance company. The naming rights agreement runs until 2016. The stadium is currently the largest football stadium in Germany with a capacity of 80,720 spectators, and hosted several matches in the 2006 World Cup, including a semi-final. Borussia Dortmund enjoys the highest average attendance of any football club in Europe, at 80,478 per match (2010–11).

Dortmund suffered a miserable start to the 2005–06 season, but rallied to finish seventh. The club failed to gain a place in the UEFA Cup via the Fair Play draw. The club's management recently indicated that the club again showed a profit; this was largely related to the sale of David Odonkor to Real Betis and Tomáš Rosický to Arsenal.

In the 2006–07 season, Dortmund unexpectedly faced serious relegation trouble for the first time in years. Dortmund went through three coaches and appointed Thomas Doll on 13 March 2007 after dropping to just one point above the relegation zone. Christoph Metzelder also left Borussia Dortmund on a free transfer.

In the 2007–08 season, Dortmund lost to many smaller Bundesliga clubs. Despite finishing 13th in the Bundesliga table, Dortmund reached the DFB-Pokal Final against Bayern Munich, where they lost 2–1 in extra time. The final appearance qualified Dortmund for the UEFA Cup because Bayern already qualified for the Champions League. Thomas Doll resigned on 19 May 2008 and was replaced by Jürgen Klopp.

Return to prominence

In the 2009–10 season, Dortmund qualified for the UEFA Europa League and finished fifth in the Bundesliga. The team missed an opportunity to qualify for the Champions League by failing to beat eighth-place VfL Wolfsburg and 14th-place SC Freiburg in the final two matches of the campaign. Nonetheless, they demonstrated a renewed charisma and passion under the direction of coach Jürgen Klopp.

Entering the 2010–11 season, Dortmund fielded a young and vibrant roster. On 4 December 2010, Borussia became Herbstmeister ("Autumn Champion"), an unofficial accolade going to the league leader at the winter break. They did this three matches before the break, sharing the record for having achieved this earliest with Eintracht Frankfurt (1993–94) and 1. FC Kaiserslautern (1997–98).[18] On 30 April 2011, the club beat 1. FC Nürnberg 2–0 at home, while second-place Bayer Leverkusen lost, leaving Dortmund eight points clear with two games to play. This championship equaled the seven national titles held by rivals Schalke 04, and guaranteed a spot in the 2011–12 Champions League group stages.[19]

In the 2013–14 season, Borussia Dortmund won the 2013 DFL-Supercup 4–2 against rivals Bayern Munich.[25] The 2013–14 season started with a five-game winning streak for Dortmund, their best start to a season. Despite such a promising start, however, their season was hampered by injuries to several key players, seeing them stoop as low as fourth place in the table, and with a depleted squad could go only as far as the quarter-finals of the Champions League, losing 3–2 on aggregate to Real Madrid. Nevertheless, Dortmund managed to end their season on a high note by finishing second in the Bundesliga and reaching the 2014 DFB-Pokal Final, losing 0–2 to Bayern in extra time.[26] They then began their 2014–15 season by defeating Bayern in the 2014 DFL-Supercup 2–0. However, this victory would not be enough to inspire the squad to a solid performance at the start of the ensuing season, with Dortmund recording various results such as a 0–1 loss to Hamburger SV and two 2–2 draws against VfB Stuttgart and Bundesliga newcomers Paderborn 07.[27] During the winter, Dortmund fell to the bottom of the table on multiple occasions, but managed to escape the relegation zone after four consecutive wins in February.[28] On 15 April 2015, Jürgen Klopp announced that after seven years, he would be leaving Dortmund.[29] Four days later, Dortmund announced that Thomas Tuchel would replace Klopp at the end of the season.[30] Klopp's final season, however, ended on high note, rising and finishing seventh after facing relegation, gaining a DFB-Pokal final with VfL Wolfsburg and qualifying for the 2015–16 Europa League.

In the 2015–16 season, Dortmund started off on a high, winning 4–0 against Borussia Mönchengladbach on the opening day, followed by five-straight wins which took them to the top of the Bundesliga. After the eighth matchday, they were surpassed by Bayern Munich following an unlucky draw with 1899 Hoffenheim.[31][32] Dortmund kept their performances up, winning 24 out of 34 league games and becoming the best Bundesliga runner-up team of all time.[33] In the Europa League, they advanced to the quarter-finals, getting knocked out by a Jürgen Klopp-led Liverpool in a dramatic comeback at Anfield, where defender Dejan Lovren scored a late goal to make it 4–3 to the Reds and 5–4 on aggregate.[34] In the 2015–16 DFB-Pokal, for the third-straight year Dortmund made it to the competition final, but lost to Bayern Munich on penalties.[35]

Crest

1945–64

1964–74

1974–76 and 1978–93

1993–present

Grounds

Stadiums

The Westfalenstadion is the home stadium of Borussia Dortmund, Germany's largest stadium and the seventh-largest in Europe.[36] The stadium is officially named "Signal Iduna Park" after insurance company Signal Iduna purchased the rights to name the stadium until 2021.[37] This name, however, cannot be used when hosting FIFA and UEFA events, since these governing bodies have policies forbidding corporate sponsorship from companies that are not official tournament partners. During the 2006 World Cup, the stadium was referred to as "FIFA World Cup Stadium, Dortmund", while in UEFA club matches, it is known as "BVB Stadion Dortmund". The stadium currently hosts up to 81,359 spectators (standing and seated) for league matches and 65,829 seated spectators for international matches.[38][39] For these, the characteristic southern grandstand is re-equipped with seats to conform to FIFA regulations.

In 1974, the Westfalenstadion replaced the Stadion Rote Erde, which is located next door and serves now as the stadium of Borussia Dortmund II. After the increasing popularity of Borussia Dortmund in the 1960s, it became obvious that the traditional ground was too small for the increasing number of Borussia Dortmund supporters. The city of Dortmund, however, was not able to finance a new stadium and federal institutions were unwilling to help. But in 1971, Dortmund was selected to replace the city of Cologne, which was forced to withdraw its plans to host games in the 1974 World Cup. The funds originally set aside for the projected stadium in Cologne were thus re-allocated to Dortmund, and a new stadium became reality.

The Westfalenstadion has undergone several renovations throughout the years to increase the size of the stadium, including an expansion of the stadium for the 2006 World Cup. In 2008, the Borusseum, a museum about Borussia Dortmund, opened in the stadium. In 2011, Borussia Dortmund agreed to a partnership with Q-Cells. The company installed 8,768 solar cells on the roof of the Westfalenstadion to generate up to 860,000kWh per year.

Borussia Dortmund has the highest average attendance of any football club worldwide.[6] In 2014, it was estimated that each of the club's home games is attended by around 1,000 British spectators, drawn to the team by its low ticket prices compared to the Premier League.[40]

Professional football at Dortmund is run by the organization Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA. This corporation model has two types of participators: at least one partner with unlimited liability and at least one partner with limited liability. The investment of the latter is divided into stocks. The organization Borussia Dortmund GmbH is the partner with unlimited liability and is responsible for the management and representation of Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA. Borussia Dortmund GmbH is fully owned by the sports club, Borussia Dortmund e.V. This organizational structure was designed to ensure that the sports club has full control over the professional squad.[44]

Borussia Dortmund e.V. and Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA's economic indicators reveal that BVB will be generating revenue of €305.1million (US$407.6million) from September 2012 to August 2013.[53][54]

According to the 2015 Deloitte's annual Football Money League, BVB generated revenues of €261.5million during the 2013–14 season. This figure excludes player transfer fees, VAT and other sales-related taxes.[9]

Shirt sponsors and kit manufacturers

Since 2005, Dortmund's shirts have been sponsored by Evonik.1[›][37] Previous sponsors have been the City of Dortmund (1974–76), Samson (1976–78), Prestolith (1978–80), UHU (1980–83), Arctic (ice cream) (1983–86),[55] Die Continentale (1986–97), s.Oliver (1997–2000) and E.ON (2000–05). The club's kit manufacturer is currently Puma, who will remain in that position until 2020.[37][56] Previous manufacturers have been Adidas (1974–90), Nike (1990–2000, 2004–09), Goool.de (2000–04) and Kappa (2009–12).

Charity

Borussia Dortmund has raised money for charity over the years for various causes. On 17 May 2011, Borussia Dortmund held a charity game for the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami against "Team Japan". Ticket sales from the game and €1million from Dortmund's main sponsor Evonik went to charity for Japan earthquake and tsunami victims.[57] In November 2012, Borussia Dortmund KGaA founded a charitable trust called leuchte auf, to give important social projects financial help.[58]
The trust's logo is a star consisting of the streets which meet at Dortmund's Borsigplatz, where the club was founded. On 6 July 2013, Borussia Dortmund held a charity game to raise money for 2013 German flood victims in the German states of Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt.[59]

Head coaches

In July 1935, Fritz Thelen became the club's first full-time head coach, but was not available in the first months of the season, forcing Dortmund player and Germany international Ernst Kuzorra to take over instead.[63][64] In 1966, Willi Multhaup led his side to the European Cup Winners' Cup, the first German team to win a European trophy. Horst Köppel was the coach to bring major silverware to the club for the first time in over 20 years, winning the DFB-Pokal in 1989.

Borussia Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is one of only two players, the other being Klaus Allofs, to have scored at least once in ten-straight Bundesliga matches.[71] He is also the only player ever to have scored at least once in the first eight matchdays of a Bundesliga season.